Amy Poehler doesn’t know if UCB will reopen

Amy Poehler is unsure about the future of the Upright Citizens Brigade, the improv theater she co-founded.

“What we said in our statement was true, which is, we were trying to own up to the things we did wrong or didn’t know or know now,” Poehler told The New York Times of the struggling theater. “It’s a tough time to survive.”

Poehler says she took the past year to work with Project Rethink, formed by UCB alums in order to get their feedback, and while she’s hopeful for some sort of “new version” of the space and group, she is unsure UCB will survive.

“I don’t know. It’s been brutal for us,” she told the NYT. “We’re basically using the fire of Covid to start some new version. We’re changing our school and our theater to not-for-profit. Whether or not we’ll be able to get there, I don’t know.”

In 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, employees at the UCB theaters in New York and Los Angeles were laid off.

Comedy clubs across the country are shuttering due to the pandemic, with famed club Dangerfield’s in New York City shutting its doors recently.

Poehler is set to co-host the 2021 Golden Globes with Tina Fey on Feb. 28.